Universal Credit: progress update inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Committee first reported on Universal Credit in November 2013, following the Major Projects Authority’s decision to reset the programme in light of serious concerns about the programme’s lack of detailed plans. The Committee concluded that the "management of the Universal Credit programme has been extraordinarily poor. Oversight has been characterised by a failure to understand properly the nature and enormity of the task, a failure to monitor and challenge progress regularly, and a failure to intervene promptly when problems arose." Given the scale of the project and the initial problems, the Committee has kept the programme under review, reporting on progress in February 2015. At that point, the Committee made six recommendations aimed at improving transparency around costs and progress; developing contingency plans; and strengthening accountability arrangements to secure better value for money for the taxpayer in future. This short inquiry examines progress against those recommendations.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
We acknowledge that Universal Credit has stabilised and made progress since the previous Committee of Public Accounts first reported on the programme in 2013.
However, there remains a long way to go. Implementation of Universal Credit so far has focussed mainly on the simplest cases and the Department for Work & Pensions has again delayed the programme. The completion date for the roll-out of its new digital service is six months later compared to when we looked at the programme only a year ago, and the Department now expects that Universal Credit will be fully operational in March 2021. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that there will be a further six-month delay beyond the Department’s latest planned end-date. We remain disappointed by the persistent lack of clarity and evasive responses by the Department to our inquiries, particularly about the extent and impact of delays. The Department’s response to the previous Committee’s recommendations in the February 2015 report Universal Credit: progress update do not convince us that it is committed to improving transparency about the programme’s progress.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 11 November 2015 to its close on 12 May 2016.
- Oral evidence 7 Dec 2015
- Report 3 Feb 2016
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 19th Report - Universal Credit: progress update ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 7 Dec 2015No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗